Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav agreed in the Delhi High Court that he would appear for questioning before the CBI in connection with the alleged land-for-job scam on March 25. Yadav has already skipped CBI's questioning three times this month.
The Delhi High Court was hearing Yadav's plea seeking quashing of summons issued to him by the CBI in the case.
During the hearing, Tejashwi Yadav's lawyer said the RJD leader would be arrested if he appeared before the CBI. The lawyer said Yadav could appear for questioning through video conferencing and he would come to the CBI headquarters after April 5 following the culmination of the Bihar Assembly's Budget session.
READ | 'Thenga Mila Hai': Tejashwi Claims 'Used' Jewellery Of His Sisters Were Shown As Recovery By ED
The CBI said there was no endeavour to arrest the Bihar deputy CM at this point of time.
"We need him to appear as there are documents to be shown. Appearance through video conferencing won't serve the purpose," the CBI said.
The CBI has alleged that people were given employment in the Railways in return for land parcels gifted or sold at cheap rates to the Yadav family and its associates during Lalu Prasad Yadav's tenure as Railways Minister in the UPA government from 2004 to 2009.
In its chargesheet, the CBI alleged that irregular appointments were made in the Railways, violating laid down norms and procedures of the Indian Railways for recruitment.
Recently, the Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the money laundering angle in the case, carried out searches at the premises allegedly linked to Yadav and claimed to have detected assets worth Rs 600 crore.
Rubbishing the claims by ED, the RJD leader challenged the agency to release the seizure list. "People are saying a lot of wealth has been recovered from me, 'thenga mila hai'. I can challenge them, issue the seizure list, or I'll issue it," ANI quoted Tejashwi as saying earlier this week.
Tejashwi also claimed that his married sisters and in-laws were made to take off jewellery and photographs of the ornaments were shown as recovery by the ED during searches on premises of his family members.
Tejashwi also alleged that the ED had finished its raid at his Delhi house last week "in half an hour" but its officials stayed on for hours awaiting "clearance from above".
"Be it Union Home Minister Amit Shah or anybody else, the director who repeats the same script for these agencies must now be changed," news agency PTI quoted the RJD leader as saying.